new star world logo ...

... sucks. rather than looking contemporary, it so reminds me of something that came out of decades past. it looks even worse on-screen.

they were doing a saturday rerun of friends when i first saw it. and i actually thought they were airing an episode from the early 90s!

the only saving grace? star world's new station id is refreshing and dynamic.

... oh and did i mention i'm hating the chinese subtitling! soooo distracting!

$4,000

i rarely check my monthly credit card bill ever since i started settling it by autopay. not exactly a good practice, but ...

 

anyhow, in one of those rare moments, i took a glance at my october bill. and to my surprise (really), i found out i only have about $4,000 in charges - inclusive of all octopus automatic reloads and utility bills, plus a few dinners and CDs on the side.

 

with the cost of living and inflation here, i couldn't believe this is possible. i guess, the psychological impact of a crashing stock market helped keep my expenses in check.

 

don't ask me about this month though - need to start shopping for christmas gifts, there's the onset of cool weather, and some pent-up shopping energy ... yaiks!

halloween

i wasn't really planning to join the revelry. just the thought of the huge crowd scares the bejesus out of me. but lou gave me a call and prodded me to join them at LKF. ok, i said, i'll just join for dinner then i'm making an escape before it gets really crowded.

 

but lo and behold, the crowds were already thick as early as 7:30pm. and by 8:00pm the overzealous crowd control measures were already in place.

 

we initially planned to hang out at hong kong brewery for a good view of the costumes. but there's not a single spot left. so we instead found a nice cozy spot at post 97 a few meters away. it doesn't have a ground-level view, but we do have a top view of the revelry - plus it's airconditioned!

 

by the time we finished dinner, we were practically stuck - i was stuck (there goes my escape). it was really crowded. so we just chilled at the resto - with plenty of food, "toys" and cameras to boot!

 

so after a couple of drinks, i transformed from being an office junkie to ... you make the call. check out the photos here:

 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47046&l=b4576&id=574592567